Oconto County man charged with stalking witness in his sex assault case

An Oconto County man was charged in October with 11 counts of stalking a woman who is a witness in the man’s sexual assault case.

Randel G. Dietze, 53, also faces 11 counts of felony bail jumping, one for each alleged incident of stalking, as a condition of his bond in the sexual assault case was to not commit further crimes.

The incidents described in the criminal complaint occurred from April to October in the city and town of Oconto Falls. Dietze followed the woman when she drove to work and when she went home for lunch, the woman told Oconto Falls Police.

“(The woman) said she started varying her lunch routine because it was happening so often and it was unnerving her badly,” the criminal complaint states. “(She) said she was fearful of what (Dietze) might do to her and scared to be home alone when her husband travels for work.”

Dietze’s attorney, Jessica Goetz, filed a motion for the complaint to be dismissed. She argues the complaint is flawed because all of the alleged acts of stalking describe single acts, rather than a course of conduct of at least two acts as required by statute, and that six of the counts fail to allege the woman suffered — or would cause a reasonable person to suffer — serious emotional distress or bodily injury.

Because the factual basis of the stalking charges is flawed, the motion contends, the bail jumping charges would also be flawed.

The woman and Dietze had been neighbors in the town of Oconto Falls, living less than a half-mile apart, about three miles from the city. After his initial appearance on the 22 charges on Oct. 10, Dietze listed his residence as a rural Gillett address.

The incident that apparently most unsettled the woman occurred on Sept. 15, when she and a friend met for breakfast at an Oconto Falls coffee shop. About 10 a.m., Dietze drove into the parking lot, stopped by the front window and looked at her. She called police.

After driving away, Dietze went to the drive-up window and stayed there for 15 minutes.

A police officer who arrived just after Dietze left described the woman as “visibly scared and upset” and that her hands were “shaking uncontrollably.”

“As she described what had taken place, (her) voice was very shaky,” the complaint states. “(She) would stop frequently to catch her breath and would take deep breaths in order to calm herself down.”

The officer said he was told by staff that it was “weird” for Dietze to just sit at the drive-through, as he normally calls in his orders because he doesn’t like to wait.

In a meeting with an officer two days later, the woman said she and her her friend could see Dietze sitting in his truck eating and staring at her at the drive-through window.

“The woman said she is so upset about (Dietze's) harassment that she doesn’t even think she could protect herself right now if he attempted to harm her, because she is so anxious and shaken when he does something,” the complaint states.

On May 17, the woman told an officer that Dietze was parked across the street from her workplace, so the officer asked to take her vehicle to observe how Dietze reacted.

After driving out of the parking lot, the officer saw Dietze quickly walk out a building, enter his truck and catch up to the officer in the woman’s vehicle — but the officer lost sight of Dietze’s vehicle after turning to head toward the woman’s home.

The woman said she was told by a neighbor of Dietze’s a few days later that Dietze said he’d been called by a family member and told it was an officer driving, and not the woman.

In the final incident noted in the complaint, a co-worker of the woman said Dietze parked next door to their office on Oct. 3, and they saw Dietze drive out within a minute of the woman leaving the office.

The co-worker also stated that Dietze has been seen arriving at an office next door, near to the time the woman leaves for lunch or near the end of the workday, appears to wait and then follows the woman when she leaves.

A motion hearing and preliminary hearing on the stalking and felony bail jumping case is set for Jan. 30.

Dietze was charged Nov. 22, 2017 with second and third degree charges of sexual assault — both felonies — and fourth degree sexual assault, battery and disorderly conduct, over an incident Aug. 7 at the town of Oconto Falls residence. All of the charges included domestic abuse modifiers.

The victim reported the sexual assault on Sept. 19. She said she had documented the assault, and on Aug. 10 had given it to the woman who reported the stalking incidents for safekeeping. The victim said she told the woman to give it police if something happened.

“The victim said she was afraid she would have to shoot (Dietze) in self-defense if he tried to assault her again and that she would need proof of prior assault to prove her self-defense,” according to the criminal complaint in the sexual assault case.

Dietze pleaded not guilty to those charges on April 13. The two felony counts carry maximum prison terms of 40 years and 10 years, respectively.

Stalking carries a maximum prison term of three years, six months, while six years is the maximum sentence for felony bail jumping.